Adam Carolla in search of interesting experiences

Life is about experiences, not fun for Adam Carolla. That’s the reason the comic/actor/radio host agreed to perform on “Dancing With The Stars” in 2008. That’s why he appeared on the last edition of Donald Trump’s “Apprentice,” which aired last winter.

“The reason you do these shows is not because it’ll be a good time, but because it’ll be an interesting experience,” Carolla said while calling from his Los Angeles home. “When I did ‘Dancing With The Stars’ and shot ‘The Apprentice,’ it was anything but fun. However when you look back on your life, you appreciate the experiences you had. Going to Disneyland is fun. Getting high is fun. Doing ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ is the most work you’ll do in Hollywood without getting paid since the money you earn goes to your favorite charity. I worked hard but I didn’t get paid for ‘The Apprentice.’”

Carolla will appear at the Merriam Theater, along with broadcaster Dennis Prager, for the experience. The humorists will debate and discuss such subjects as parenting, politics and welfare.

Count on Prager and Carolla to interact with the audience, which is something the latter loves.

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Carolla often asks the audience to shout out topics and he will react to them.

“That’s not an easy thing to do,” Carolla said. “It’s not like hanging on the beach but it’s my job and I somehow come through.”

You never know what the co-creator of the cult hits, “The Man Show” and “Crank Yankers” and the star of the underheralded film “The Hammer,” will do when he hits the stage.

“It’s fun to be unpredictable,” Carolla said. “I might start off by telling a story about doing ‘The Tonight Show’ with Queen Latifah or talking about how pathetic my Social Security payout will be. I’ve brought my Social Security statement out onstage and it’s pretty pathetic. There are a lot of zeros in some of those early years.”

During his 20s, Carolla worked a lot of odd jobs before catching a break in 1995 by scoring the co-hosting gig on the nationally syndicated radio show “Loveline,” with Dr. Drew Pinsky.

“I worked a lot of under-the-table construction jobs trying to survive when I was young,” Carolla said. “I had some lean times.”

But Carolla can laugh about it now and so can his fan base since he is adept at delivering self-deprecating material.

“It’s about getting laughs,” Carolla says. “All that matters is that I get laughs and we all have an experience.”

Carolla looks back with pride when talking about “The Man Show,’” which featured he and his pal Jimmy Kimmel, who has become a popular late night talk show host.

“‘The Man Show’ was about as much fun as you can have,” Carolla said. “What I loved about that show was what I love about stand-up. We had so much autonomy. We sometimes argued about content but it was nothing that was too big a deal. For the most part, we could just go out there and be as funny as we could be. Overall, that was a great experience.”

It certainly beat Carolla’s early pre-show biz experience.

“It was a huge step up from construction,” Carolla said. “I was miserable doing construction. I wanted something that paid good money because I liked nice things but that takes a lot out of you and I wanted to do stand-up. Fortunately, it all worked out for me but I put in a lot of hard work.”

His work co-hosting “Loveline,” was also hard work.

“I like radio because it’s not scripted,” Carolla said. “Loveline” was an interesting experience. What I liked about it most was that there was no BS with it. It was pretty straightforward and there is so much BS in the world of entertainment in Hollywood. It was great to be able to say whatever I wanted to say.

“There was no pretention. I hope I made a difference. I cared while I was on the air but when I left the studio, I thought about other things. That’s just the way it was. I’m glad I’m past ‘Loveline.’ It’s been nice the way my career has progressed. I’ve come a long way from construction and from ‘Loveline.’

“I’ve always had a good sense of humor but I never thought I would ultimately make any money from it. But everything worked out for me. I couldn’t be more fortunate. I make a nice living doing what I love. I get to go onstage and make people laugh. I don’t think I could ask for anything more than this. It’s been phenomenal.”